


Run Kids Run

by KittiePhanatic



Series: Inspired Works and Prompt Fills [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gen, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Good Sister Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Luther Hargreeves Eventually Redeems Himself, Post-Season/Series 01, Sibling Bonding, Tumblr Prompt, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2020-12-20 19:27:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21061943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittiePhanatic/pseuds/KittiePhanatic
Summary: "Hold on! It’s gonna get messy!"Number Five Hargreeves stood in a circle with his other five --- no, now six --- siblings as the blue haze encircled them.  For a moment, all of the siblings, including a now visible Ben, reverted to their thirteen-year-old bodies. Five watched the time portal start to open.  As he stared through it, Five became horrified at the sight on the other side.And then, WHOOSH!~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Based on a Tumblr prompt fill in which Five mistakenly brings the siblings to the post-apocalyptic world.  However, that’s okay; without the presence of any more bad guys (they hope), they should have plenty of time to help Vanya.  Meanwhile, Five tries figuring out how to get back.  He should listen to Delores about the equations this time.





	1. Chapter 1

"_Hold on!_ _It’s gonna get messy!_"

Number Five Hargreeves stood in a circle with his other five --- no, now six --- siblings as the blue haze encircled them. For a moment, all of the siblings, including a now visible Ben, reverted to their thirteen-year-old bodies. Five watched as the time portal start to open. As he stared through it, Five became horrified at the sight on the other side.

And then,  _ WHOOSH! _

Five and the other siblings were dropped into the post-apocalyptic world. 

"Shit!" Five exclaimed as he rose to his feet. He looked down at his hands and feet and also realized that his body was still thirteen. His other siblings, whose bodies were back to their 29-year-old selves, were slowly regaining consciousness, except for Vanya.

Luther was the first to open his eyes. They darted around at the burning remains. "Five? Where are we?" 

Five sighed. "We’re back in the future."

Diego slowly rose with Klaus. "Shit," Diego exclaimed. 

"Damn it!" Five yelled. "We were supposed to go back to the  _ past! _ Not back to this shit!"

The five living conscious siblings and Ben, whom Klaus had confirmed his presence, took a few minutes to process this turn of events. Vanya was still unconscious, her tuxedo outfit still entirely white. When Allison was strong enough, she moved next to Vanya and put her sister’s head in her lap.

Diego turned to Luther. "So, now what do we do?"

Luther looked at Five. "What  _ are _ we going to do?"

Diego was glad that Luther finally could admit that he was not quite the fearless leader that he had pretended to be throughout their lives.

Five stared at his unconscious sister. "Well, Vanya is obviously our greatest concern. We don’t know what her frame of mind will be when she wakes up, or how she’ll react to even learning that she caused all of this."

Luther nudged Allison's shoulder. "Come on. You shouldn’t be holding her like this."

Allison glared at Luther and furiously shook her head.

"Allison, please---"

Luther gently grabbed Allison's arm. She jerked it away and gave Luther the finger.

"Look, I’m sorry, Allison, but Vanya was dangerous before."

"She wasn’t dangerous until you locked her in the vault, Number One," Klaus snapped.

"Because she hurt Allison!"

"Oh, really!" Klaus stood up to face Luther. "Is that only because Vanya hurt someone, or because she hurt Allison?"

"Klaus, if you say that again---"

"No, Klaus has a valid point," Diego interrupted. "No offense to you, Allison; I’m glad you’re alive. But Luther, you sure didn’t give a shit when I told you Vanya was with a convicted murderer, until I told you that Allison had gone after him."

Luther looked at Allison, who stared daggers at him.

"Guys!" Five exclaimed. "All of this bickering and dilly-dallying was what prevented us from stopping the apocalypse before. And, unfortunately, I don’t know how we can go back."

" _ What?! _ " Luther glared at Five. "How were you able to get back in the first place?"

"That’s because I didn’t jump back; I jumped  _ forward.  _ I was on an assignment in 1963 at the time. It seems that I may not yet have the ability to travel backwards."

"So, you’re saying we’re stuck in this shithole?!" Luther cried.

"I said  _ yet. _ " Five started to get up. "What I need to do is find the library, assuming that it is still standing now as it was before, and re-read the books on time travel." He started to walk away.

"Wait, you’re leaving us  _ now? _ " Luther snapped.

"Yes, if I have the ability, I need to learn as much as possible in order to get us back." Five zapped away before anyone could argue. Before heading to the library, Five made a detour to Gimble Brothers. This time, he would listen to Delores about the equations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luther, Diego, Allison and Klaus sat around the burning debris in a circle, with Vanya's head still in her lap. Allison stroked Vanya's hair while avoiding any further eye contact with Luther.

"Look, Allison…" Luther then faced the others. "Guys. Please, I’m sorry, okay? I did what I had to do at the time."

"What, lock our sister up?" Diego retorted. "Because  _ that’s  _ what pushed her over the edge!"

Allison shook her head and started waving her free hand. She hoped that Five found a pen and paper during his errands.

" Yes, Allison?" Luther said cautiously.

"I think she’s trying to remind us that we need to stop arguing and work together." Klaus was surprised at the sensibility in his own words.

Allison nodded.

"Well, I’m going to start looking for anything we can eat," Diego got up. "Klaus, you’re with me." The two walked off, leaving Luther in awkward silence with Allison.

"Diego's right, Allison," Luther said to the woman who still refused to look at him. "I---I did lock up Vanya because she had hurt you. I just---Allison, you can’t imagine how I felt when I saw you lying there bleeding to death. And among the things that Pogo told me included the fact that Mom was designed because Vanya's powers killed the other nannies at four years old, just because she refused to eat her oatmeal. I just…." He sighed.

Allison gave no response as she continued running her hand through her sister’s hair. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fortunately, Diego and Klaus were near a supermarket in which there were many untouched canned goods. They loaded up a mangled shopping cart and Diego pushed it down the road.

"So, what you said about Ben saving my life," Diego said. "That was true?"

Klaus nodded. "Yep, our ghost brother is full of surprises!" Klaus winked at Ben standing next to him. Ben smirked back.

"So, he’s been with you the whole time?"

"As a ghost, yeah; but this whole manifesting thing is new. Dad had said I had only scratched the surface of my potential."

"You did drugs because of the ghosts, though, right?"

Klaus nodded, and then realized, "Shit, and there’s no drugs around for me to take away that ability."

Diego realized where Klaus was going with this. "And you can’t control this power on your own."

Klaus stopped as he began trembling. Diego stopped the cart and placed his hand on Klaus' shoulder.

"Hey," Diego said gently. "We’ll figure this out. Along with helping Vanya control her powers, we’ll help you, too."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the time Diego and Klaus got back, Vanya's tuxedo suit had turned back to black, but she was still unconscious. Luther got up and walked away from Allison as Klaus sat down next to her. "Here," he handed her a burnt notebook and a pen.

Allison smiled and hugged her brother. Then she opened the book and wrote:  _ WE NEED TO DISCUSS WHAT TO DO ONCE SHE WAKES UP. _

"Well, that’s going to depend on her state of mind," Luther said.

Allison wrote:  _ MAYBE YOU SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM HER, JUST IN CASE. _

"Allison's right, Luther," Diego agreed. "At least until we know."

"Well, we need to be prepared for anything," Luther said. "The obvious worst-case scenario is that she is exactly as she was before we got here."

"Or there’s the opposite," Klaus held onto Vanya's hand. "Like possibly not remembering that she did any of this, and how she might react knowing that she caused all of this, let alone…" he trailed off before he would mention Pogo and Mom.

Luther nodded. "We’ll just have to play things by ear. But definitely wise not to mention what happened if she doesn’t remember."

The siblings ate some canned goods. After a couple of hours Five returned with his mannequin and some books, including Vanya's autobiography. Five quickly hid it after talking to the others.

Five had just finished eating a can of food himself when a moan was heard from Allison's lap. Vanya's eyes began to flutter.

"It’s showtime, Baby," Klaus said.


	2. Chapter 2

She could faintly hear voices in the darkness that surrounded her.

"Luther, you should probably…"

"Remember what we agreed…"

She opened her eyes and looked upward at the African-American woman with a bandaged neck smiling at her through tear-filled eyes. Her eyes moved from the woman to a skinny man with dark curly hair who was holding her hand.

"Vanya?" The man said cautiously.

She then observed standing further away a boy in a school uniform, a dark-haired man with a large scar above the ear, and a lighter-haired man who was … HUGE.

She sat up, and saw the smoke and rubble. She looked all around before facing the woman above her again. "Where am I?"

The woman faced the skinny man next to her.

"That’s kind of a long story," the man said.

She then stared blankly at him. "Who _ are _ all of you? And who am I?" 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Klaus looked at the other siblings, horrified. Then he gently said to Vanya, "We’re your brothers and your sister."

Vanya continued staring in a daze.

"Vanya," Diego started to approach her cautiously. "What all do you remember?"

"_What _ is my name?"

Diego looked at Allison and Klaus before answering Vanya's question. Then he inquired, "So, you don’t remember anything that happened?"

Confused, Vanya shook her head. Her eyes darted around the surroundings. "What is this place?"

Five then approached Vanya. "A chunk of the moon hit the Earth. We are the only survivors."

Vanya looked around once more. "Oh, okay," she said as she laid her head back in Allison's lap and closed her eyes.

The other siblings looked at one another, unsure about this response. "Vanya?" Klaus squeezed her hand.

"I’m too tired," Vanya murmured without opening her eyes.

"Let’s let her sleep," Luther suggested.

Diego took off his denim jacket and rolled it into a ball; as Allison got up, Diego slid the jacket under Vanya's head. The siblings all converged within a few feet of her.

"Well, maybe when she wakes up later, she’ll have her memory back," Luther said. "But I guess in hindsight, I hate to admit that this amnesia is a blessing in disguise."

Allison furiously scribbled, _ REALLY TACTFUL, LUTHER!!! _

"Unfortunately, Luther's correct," Five said flatly. "It bides us more time to figure out how we’re going to help her if she gets her memory back."

"But what happens if her power comes back to the surface before then?" Luther wondered.

"Well, we are _ not _ going to lock her away again like before," Diego ordered. "Remember, that was how this happened in the first place."

"How many times are you going to keep reminding me of this?" Luther glared at Diego. "I thought that I needed to protect Allison. I was wrong."

Klaus himself started to become furious at Luther's insistence that he protect Allison while treating most everyone else like shit. He then thought of something Diego had said earlier and decided to embellish on it. "What if it were one of us who was attacked, instead of Allison? What if Vanya had done this to _ me? _ Would you have been so quick to lock her up?"

Luther stared blankly at Klaus. "Of course I would," he stammered, although he knew that wasn’t true.

"Bull_ shit! _" Klaus exclaimed. "You certainly didn’t give a shit when I was thrown to the floor at the rave…this, of course, being only a few hours after you’d strangled me!" 

Diego looked at Klaus, then at Luther. "What the hell is he talking about?"

"What _ are _ you talking about?" Luther asked Klaus. "About the rave, I mean."

"Oh, well, your one-night-stand's boyfriend came after you with a baseball bat. I jumped on his back and when he threw me on the ground I hit my head."

Diego angrily stared at Luther before reaching out his hand and rubbing the back of Klaus' head. "You okay, bro?"

Klaus nodded.

"So, what about the strangling, then?" Diego asked him.

"That was when he found out about the moon research. He was drunk and choked me because I was just starting to get clean and couldn’t conjure Dad like he wanted me to."

Diego glared at Luther. "You son of a bitch."

"Klaus, I---" Luther stammered. He swallowed his pride and faced the brother whom he had always considered useless, who now was becoming one of the most powerful siblings. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I choked you. And I had no idea that happened at the rave. I was too high to notice anything. And you had tried to stop me from leaving the house to go get high in the first place. I’m sorry."

Klaus beamed and playfully punched Luther's arm. "It’s okay, Big Guy."

"I’m also sorry for not believing you about Ben. I guess I should have realized that you wouldn’t have lied about him, since you gave him the credit for saving Diego's life."

Klaus nodded. The only time that anyone had given him credit for anything.

"Klaus did save my life one other time," Diego piped up. "Uh, remember that incident with the ice cream truck?"

Five exchanged glances with Luther. "Not very easy to forget."

Diego explained the shooting at the motel. "I’d told Klaus to wait in the car. He didn’t listen and then pulled me to safety when shit went down. And instead of thanking him, I called him an idiot." Diego turned somberly to his brother. "I’m sorry, Klaus."

Klaus gave Diego a hug. "It’s okay, D."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The siblings continued talking as the sun set. They had no idea what day, week or year this was, although they assumed late spring or summer as it did not get overwhelmingly cold overnight.

Vanya did not awaken again until the next morning. Klaus and Allison slept with her while Luther, Diego and Five all stood guard.

"Hey there," Klaus cautiously said to Vanya.

"Hi," Vanya mumbled flatly while looking around.

"Do you remember anything?" He asked.

Vanya shook her head.

Klaus smiled. "Well, my name is Klaus, and this is Allison; she injured her throat and can’t talk right now." He reached over and gave Allison a sympathetic pat on the back. "And over there is Luther, Diego and Five. We’re all your siblings."

Vanya's eyes followed Klaus' finger pointing to her brothers. Then she asked Klaus, "How old am I?"

"Twenty-nine. We all are, except for Five. We were all adopted."

Vanya again scanned the surroundings. "And you said we were the only survivors here? How is that possible?"

Five stepped in. "Well, let’s just say that I have some unique survival skills that I was able to pass along to my siblings." There was indeed truth to that; of course, said survival skill being the ability to travel through time. He just now had to figure out how to travel backwards.

Vanya stared blankly at Five. "_How _ old are you?"

"My consciousness is fifty-eight, but because of time travel, my body is now thirteen again."

After a beat, Vanya repeated, "Time travel?"

"We all have superpowers," Five then teleported a few inches away. "I can jump through space and time, the latter not well enough yet. Luther has superhuman strength; Diego has the ability to change the trajectory of anything he throws, hence the knife harness; and Klaus talks to the dead."

Then Vanya asked the question the others had been expecting. "What about me?"

Five responded as the siblings had previously discussed. "Well, your power is based on emotion and sound. A single sound resonates in your head, and your emotion brings out that power. However, you and we all only discovered yesterday that you have this power." Five sighed and looked at the others before continuing, "Our father --- well, no one here can say that he truly was a father --- suppressed your powers with medication. After Dad died, you stopped taking your medication, and that was how you found out. So, while I figure out how to get us back to 2019, we also need to help you learn how to control your power."

Vanya nodded blankly, obviously trying to wrap her head around this scenario like the others were. Then she looked up at Allison. "What about you?"

Allison looked at the others with tears in her eyes.

"Uh, her power is to 'rumor' people into believing whatever she wants," Luther said uncomfortably. "But, uh, she recently had an accident, so right now she can’t talk." Luther could still taste the bitterness in his mouth over what Vanya had done to Allison. But the siblings had agreed to tell Vanya everything they had known about her besides her having felt left out and, of course, the events of the past week. Therefore, Vanya was informed accordingly about Five's return from his Commission assignment (in which Five was supposed to shoot JFK; what the fuck?!) and Hazel and Cha-Cha. Diego's heart pained hearing Five explain Eudora's death. Diego still couldn’t forgive Five over that one. He had missed her call because of all people he wound up hanging out with Luther searching for Five, who was in the library getting drunk. Of course, if Klaus hadn’t escaped, he wouldn’t have traveled through…well, wherever he had gone…and found some form of true love and loss, allowing him to grow.

Allison helped Vanya up and led her to the cart full of canned goods. Out of earshot, the brothers began nervously chattering.

"Well, this is good that other than not having her memory, Vanya is otherwise herself," Five pointed out. "Right now it’s good that she doesn’t know she caused this."

As Klaus had loudly stated during the argument about keeping Vanya locked up, Vanya indeed did cry whenever any of the siblings had stepped on ants as kids. No one could comprehend how she might react to having destroyed the entire planet and the moon.

"We also need to be prepared for what could happen if she gets her memory back," Luther said.

"Well, in the meantime, we need to work on training her while she’s in a good state of mind," Five said as they observed Vanya fishing a can out of the cart. As she and Allison walked back, Five said, "Let’s get started with your training."

"Jesus, Five!" Diego exclaimed. "Let her at least eat something first!"

Vanya turned to Allison. "Are they always like this?" Allison grinned and nodded.

"Speaking of training, guys," Diego said, "we need to help out Klaus with his new superpower as well."

"New superpower?" Vanya repeated. 

"Uh, yeah," Klaus muttered. "Turns out I can manifest ghosts as well. We have another brother who was killed, and he’s been by my side ever since. And yesterday I brought him out for the first time."

"The thing is," Diego pointed out, "we were in danger when he brought Ben out --- wait, you did say you had brought him out before he saved my life, right? What were you doing at the time?"

Klaus looked at Ben, standing behind Diego. "You don’t want to know."

"Klaus!" Luther snapped impatiently.

Klaus sighed. "I was looking for drugs."

Diego smacked Klaus on the back of his head. "What the hell, Klaus?"

"I didn’t take them, okay? Because Ben also hit me when I tried. That was how I found out I could do this."

"And if stress triggers this new power of yours, Klaus---"

"I know," Klaus cut Five off. "I can bring any ghost to life if it scares me."

"So, we need to train you, probably like Dad trained you," Luther said.

Klaus backed up. "Oh, _ hell _ no. Hell _ fucking _ no!" 

Five's eyes narrowed as he observed Klaus. "What sort of training did he have you do, anyway?"

"None of your business," Klaus snapped.

"No," Luther insisted, "we need to know what he did, so we know how to train you."

"Oh, you want to know what our dear precious old Dad did to his greatest disappointment?" Klaus laughed bitterly. "He repeatedly locked me in a mausoleum with corpses for five years, from eight to thirteen years old. So, no thank you very much; I never want to go through that again!" He then took off.

"Klaus!" Diego ran after him.

Vanya looked at Allison. "What kind of person was our father?!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it with my WIPs. I think there will be one more chapter after this one. Maybe an epilogue.

Klaus ran as quickly as he could, stumbling in his bowling shoes in the process. That was how Diego caught up with him.

"Just go away, please," Klaus swallowed the lump in his throat. The last thing he had wanted was for all of his siblings to learn about his training.

Diego grabbed Klaus by the shoulders, making him stop. "No. I didn’t leave you alone at the veterans' bar, and I’m not leaving you alone now."

Klaus turned to face Diego with tear-filled eyes. "Why not? After all, I’m Dad’s greatest disappointment! He even told me that in the afterlife! And that I’m weak because I couldn’t overcome my fear of ghosts!"

"Klaus…" Diego said nothing further as he pulled his little brother in an embrace. Klaus' fists tightened up the back of Diego's shirt as he cried on his brother’s shoulder. Diego felt both heartbroken at the sight of his brother and the fact that this had been done to him, and rage against the monster who did this.

After a couple of minutes Klaus pulled away.

"Klaus," Diego kept a hand on his brother’s trembling shoulder, "I’m so sorry that Dad did this to you. How come you never said anything?"

"Because I wanted to be strong, like you guys," Klaus sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Do you have any idea how much it hurt to hear him say I acted more like a girl than Allison?"

"So, that was what got you to do drugs," Diego realized, then remembering the other day saying to Klaus, _ All that shit you do, it’s just weakness. _ Granted, that day he was able to convince Klaus to get relatively clean. He had never completely found out what had happened to Klaus that day, other than finding out later from Luther that he had time-traveled using Hazel and Cha-Cha's briefcase. Since the cards were now on the table, perhaps Diego should ask. So he did. "Why did you finally decide to get clean, then? Was this about conjuring the one you lost?"

Klaus tearfully nodded. 

"What was her name?"

Klaus sighed. "_His _ name was Dave. We soldiered together in the A Shau Valley of the Mountain of the Crouching Beast."

Diego stared dumbfounded at his brother. Did Klaus really just say that he had fought in the Vietnam War? Prior to then, Klaus' sole form of combat was jumping on other people's backs; it was Diego who had to fight their way through a bunch of pissed off Marines at the bar. Finally Diego said, "Well, Dave must have been a very special person to put up with all your weird-ass shit."

"Yeah," Klaus said dreamily as tears rolled down his face. "He was kind, and brave, and strong, and beautiful! Beautiful! And I was foolish enough to follow him all the way to the front lines."

"You fought in the shit?" Diego was still comprehending this.

"Oh yeah, baby."

"How’d they let you do that?"

"Let me?" Klaus chuckled sadly. "The war couldn’t get enough bodies to please. Including his." He grabbed his dog tags.

Diego gently took the dog tags from Klaus' hands and read them. David Katz. Born in 1939. Jewish. Klaus Hargreeves. Born October 1, 1939. Agnostic. "And you haven't been able to conjure him yet?"

Klaus defeatedly shook his head. "No. I was gonna have Luther tie me up so I could try, when he went apeshit on me."

Diego stared dumbfoundedly at his brother. "Come again?"

"Well, you know," Klaus said sheepishly, "last time I was sober was that _ roaring _ good time when those freaks had me tied up in the motel room."

Diego shook his head. "Wow. You are one twisted bonehead. There's better ways to get clean."

"I needed someone to take away my options," Klaus explained. "I wished you could have done it, but that was when you went to the station to get Harold Jenkins' file."

That still infuriated Diego, knowing that less than an hour before getting the police file the asshole had been standing in their living room. "Well, at least that asshole got what he deserved." He clamped his hand on Klaus' shoulder. "You ready to go back to the others?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Ben watched Diego and Klaus wrap up their conversation and head back to the other siblings, he felt a massive amount of guilt. He replayed the whole scenario of the original Wednesday's conversation he had observed between Klaus and Diego in the attic, when Diego did, in fact, tie Klaus up.

How could Ben explain to Klaus that he _ had _ been able to conjure Dave on Wednesday, right as Five escaped from the Commission and reset the timeline by twelve hours? And that it wasn’t a Viet Cong who killed Dave, but someone from the Commission? And that Dave had since been warned by a Commission victim that Klaus would be killed if Dave told him the truth.

Ben had walked out on the conversation, angry that Klaus had gone to Diego instead of him. The next thing Ben knew, the timeline was reset and he was helping Klaus look for Luther instead. Something that Ben had since regretted based on what happened at the rave.

He couldn’t hurt Klaus this way.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vanya, as everyone called her, tried to take in the information her apparent siblings had given her about their father. That along with what he had done to Klaus, he pitted Luther and Diego against each other. Worst yet, their father actually killed himself hoping that the family would reunite to stop the apocalypse, which still happened anyway.

Vanya still didn’t know what actually caused the apocalypse. She figured whatever happened must have been so traumatic that it caused a memory repression. That, or maybe the time-travel itself messed up her mind, if Five's physique was any indicator. She hoped that eventually finding out the truth wouldn’t devastate her. That was why she had yet to ask anything.

After Diego and Klaus returned, Vanya watched Diego explain to the others of Klaus' time-travel to the Vietnam War and the lover he had lost. How was it that Vanya could remember historical events and understand Klaus' sexuality yet not recall anything from her own life?

"I’m sorry about all that’s happened to you," Vanya finally squeaked out at her brother. "And what our father did to you as a child. I can’t imagine being isolated like that."

Vanya cautiously watched Luther and Allison exchange horrified glances.

"What did I say?" Vanda worriedly demanded.

"Luther was on the moon by himself for four years," Five quickly interjected. "And I was in the apocalypse by myself for over forty years." Five then turned to Klaus. "Can you summon up the Old Man when you get the chance? I want to see if he knows how we can all time-travel back."

Klaus rolled his eyes and chuckled in snark. "I don’t think Dear Old Daddy can tear away from playing golf with Trump, let alone tennis with Hitler!"

Vanya knew about Hitler. She even knew Trump was the current President; she hoped she didn’t vote for him!

Before Vanya could slide further down that rabbit hole, Klaus' hands began to glow bright blue. "What the fuck?!" he exclaimed. 

"Is it Dad?" Five said intensely.

It apparently wasn’t their father. It was a man in his thirties, wearing a plaid shirt with multiple sharp objects pierced in his chest, and a bandage over his eye.

"JESUS!" Vanya exclaimed, horrified at the sight. She quickly glanced at the others, seemingly equally horrified as she.

The man turned to cynically face her. "Yes, it’s me. And I think it’s about time you learned what _ really _ happened!"


	4. Chapter 4

"_Who _ are you?!" Vanya fearfully demanded.

"Klaus!" Luther glared frighteningly at him. "Get rid of him!"

Klaus violently shook his glowing hands, while the blue form of the grotesque man remained. "I can’t!" He panically exclaimed.

"You, Vanya Hargreeves, killed me with your superpower," the man exclaimed cynically. "Because I knew all about your powers. I embraced you when no one else would. And what happened when your so-called family found out?" The man looked at Luther. "Why don’t you explain how you locked her away?!"

Five quickly teleported to the shopping cart, grabbed a soda bottle, teleported back and hit Klaus over the head with it. As Klaus collapsed, the man disappeared.

"Jesus, Five!" Diego quickly ran to his unconscious brother.

"I’m sorry!" Five exclaimed. "It was the only way I could get rid of Jenkins!"

Diego carefully placed Klaus' head in his lap and gently stroked his curly hair.

"Who was he?" Vanya stared at Luther. "And what does he mean about you locking me away?"

Luther fearfully eyed Five, Diego and Allison. "I…uh…." he stammered.

Allison looked sadly at Luther. She then reluctantly walked up to Vanya. She scribbled on her notepad, "_IT’S TIME._"

"Allison, _ no!_" Luther charged toward them. A force emitted from Vanya, knocking Luther to the ground.

"Shit!" Vanya exclaimed, horrified. "I didn’t mean to!"

Allison placed her hands on Vanya's shoulders and whispered in Vanya's ear, "_I heard a rumor that you got your memory back._" 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With Klaus' head still in his lap, Diego watched as Vanya's facial expression gradually changed from confusion to sheer horror.

"Oh, my God," Vanya looked tragically at Allison. "I did this to you!" As tears welled up in her eyes and Vanya began trembling, the earth trembled as well and the sky opened up with rainfall. "I hurt you! And Pogo...I killed Pogo!" As Allison tried to embrace her, Vanya fell to the ground. "_Oh, my God! I caused all of this!_"

The rain pelting on Klaus' face quickly awoke him. "What the fuck…?"

Diego carefully helped Klaus up while keeping his eyes on Vanya. "She remembers everything."

Klaus quickly gathered his bearings, and before Diego could stop him, Klaus ran to Vanya.

"Klaus!" Diego quickly ran after him; and as Klaus embraced Vanya, Diego kept protective hands on Klaus' shoulders.

"It’s okay, Vanya," Klaus whispered gently as he and Allison rocked her. "That wasn’t you. That power wasn’t you."

Klaus' hands glowed once again. But this time, Harold Jenkins didn’t reappear. Instead, the siblings faced Pogo. And suddenly, the rain and earthquake ceased simultaneously.

"Pogo," Vanya looked tearfully at him. "Oh, my God, Pogo! I’m so sorry!"

"My dear Miss Vanya," Pogo smiled at her, but sadly. "Master Klaus is correct. Sadly, your father never had the patience to train you in the manner that you should have been. At four years old, you had no knowledge of right and wrong." He then looked at Klaus, whose hands were no longer glowing.

Klaus looked at his hands, and then at Pogo. "What the f---" he stopped himself in time.

Pogo smiled at him. "Master Luther was also correct: you need the full force of the entire Academy to fight any adversary, including your own inner demons, so to speak."

As Diego kept hold of Klaus himself, he saw another figure standing behind Pogo, beaming at him. "Eudora," he said, teary-eyed.

Startled, Klaus looked at Diego. "You can see her, too?" Still embracing Vanya, Klaus' hands remained their normal fleshy color.

"Hello, Diego," Eudora Patch smiled as she approached him. 

Diego quickly got up, but she disappeared as he let go of Klaus. He knelt back down and embraced his brother, and she reappeared, along with Ben.

Amazed, Five quickly figured it out. "Vanya and Klaus are channeling their powers through each other. And Diego is benefitting from this by touching Klaus!"

"Yes, Master Five," Pogo beamed. "They are all working together."

"So, if I channel Vanya's powers…."

"Indeed, Master Five. You were successful at time-traveling yourself and your siblings, but your powers were still limited because there were only six of you working together. Miss Vanya was still unconscious. By having all seven of the Academy banded together, you will likely succeed in returning to 2019."

Diego looked at Eudora standing in front of him, the blood stain on her sweater still as prominent as when he had last seen her. "Eudora…." a tear rolled down his face.

Eudora cuffed his face in her hands. "It’s okay, Diego. I’m proud of you." She looked at Klaus. "I’m glad I was able to save your brother, and that he got clean." She turned back to Diego and smiled warmly. "I’ve always loved you. You were a real pain in the ass, but you’ve always fought for justice."

Diego tearfully looked at her. "You didn’t have to die, though."

Eudora put a finger to Diego's lips. "Just continue being the wonderful person you are."

With that, she gave him a kiss on the lips, and then she vanished.

Pogo looked at the tearful Vanya. "Miss Vanya, I forgive you. And if you are all successful, Grace, the Academy and I will still be around."

"I love you, Pogo."

"I love you, too, Miss Vanya." Pogo looked at all of the siblings. "I love all of you."

"We love you, too, Pogo," the other siblings all chimed in as he also disappeared, leaving Ben remaining.

After a pause, Five piped up, "So, are we going to do this?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few minutes later, all six living siblings and Ben's ghost stood in a circle. "Here goes nothing!" Five exclaimed as the blue light began to appear.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so overwhelmed by and grateful for all of the comments! Thank you all!

The siblings quickly gathered their bearings as they looked around at their familiar surroundings.

The Academy living room. Broad daylight. Based on the angle that the sunlight shone through the window, morning.

Five straggled up, but immediately doubled over in pain from his midsection.

_ Shit! _ He thought as he lifted his shirt and discovered the same shrapnel wound from before.

He eyed the other siblings (through the spots in his vision) dressed in the same outfits as they had on Wednesday morning.

Of course, Luther and Diego had never changed theirs in the first place.

"Guys!" He squeaked out, feeling even weaker than when he had first been in the previous timeline of this day.

Allison clutched her unbandaged throat. "Oh, my God…."

"You can talk!" Vanya exclaimed, beaming.

Klaus grabbed his stomach and dropped to his knees. Diego quickly ran to him and wrapped his arms around him. "Hey, easy, bro."

"No," Klaus quickly stood up. "I’m gonna be sick." He quickly darted out of the room, heading toward the kitchen.

"It’s the same time I came back before," Five concluded as the siblings listened to the puking noises from the kitchen. "He’s going through withdrawals again."

"Shit," Diego said as they heard water running from the kitchen sink. He started toward the kitchen himself, but then Klaus wobbled back in. Diego grabbed hold of him and guided him to the bench next to the bar.

"Vanya?"

Vanya froze as she heard the dreaded familiar voice from the hallway. 

Sure enough, Leonard Peabody, legally known as Harold Jenkins, appeared in the living room. "I thought you said you’d wait outside," he said with a nervous smile as his eyes darted around the room at everyone.

Vanya stood and glared at him. 

"Uh, what’s going on?" He chuckled uneasily.

"I know everything. Harold." She said bitterly.

Leonard again glanced at everyone. "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"You know about my power," she said coldly as the room started to shake. "You stole my dad’s journal and used it to manipulate me. Turn me against my family."

"Uh, Vanya, what makes---"

"_Stop it!_" Vanya yelled as a force emitted from her, knocking Leonard to the ground. Allison quickly stood by Vanya and put her arm around her sister.

"I hear you have an impressive murder shrine of us Academy kids in your attic," Klaus said as he shakily stood up. Diego quickly shot up and grabbed Klaus' shoulders. 

Leonard stood back up himself as the room continued shaking. "Vanya, how could you believe anything they say? Look at how they just treated you! They couldn’t consider you important enough to include you in the family meeting!"

"A lot has changed since then," Vanya said icily.

"Why did you kill your father?" Luther demanded.

"Wha?" Leonard again laughed nervously.

"There’s a police file about you," Diego said while still holding onto Klaus. "You’re a convicted murderer! You killed your own father when you were thirteen!"

"When you were our age," Five added. "Our exact age!"

Leonard looked at Vanya. "You’re really going to believe someone messed up from time travel? Or a career criminal who got kicked out of the Police Academy? Or a washed-out junkie who’s never even had a job?!"

"_Stop it!_" Vanya screamed.

"How about a woman who lost custody of her daughter for rumoring her, because she couldn’t discipline her?!"

"Oh yeah!" Allison piped up. "I heard a rumor that you explain what all you have against our family that made you manipulate our sister!"

Leonard paused as his eyes turned a glassy color. Then he glared at Luther. "I was born on the exact same day as all of you! My mother died immediately after I was born! My own father hated me! He was a drunk who constantly beat the shit out of me! You all were my heroes and I figured I was one of the forty-three and your father didn’t know! So I ran away from home and tried to join the Academy! You had just returned from the museum mission and the entire city was there! Your dad humiliated me in front of all those people!"

Luther's eyes widened. "I remember that!"

Five knew from Vanya's autobiography that the museum mission was after he had jumped forward into the future. Meanwhile, Diego and Klaus exchanged knowing glances with each other, and then with Allison. They all recalled that day, too. As Vanya stared in shock, the room stopped shaking.

"So, I went back home and killed my dad that night!" Leonard continued. "And after I got out of prison, I read Vanya's book. Then after your dad died, I went to go spy on the Academy and saw your junkie brother toss the journal in the dumpster!"

"Oh, shit," Klaus muttered as he sat back down.

Luther looked at Klaus. "Was that after I saw you in Dad’s office?"

Klaus sighed. "Yes. I did it to pawn the box it was in." 

Diego sat down next to him, stunned.

Leonard's eyes narrowed at Klaus. "So, see, _ he’s _the reason why I know so much about all of you!"

Luther then lunged forward and grabbed Leonard by the collar. Just as he did to Klaus, Luther held up Leonard by the throat against the pillar.

"Don’t you _ dare _ accuse my brother of this," Luther ordered through gritted teeth. "_You _ were the one manipulating my sister this whole time!"

"_And _you killed Helen Cho! Vanya walked up next to Luther as Leonard began gagging. "I know that you killed her so I would get First Chair, and use my power through my violin to destroy my family!"

"I--- I---" Leonard choked.

Allison walked up beside her and looked Leonard right in the eye. "I heard a rumor that you confess to the police that you murdered Helen Cho. I heard a rumor that you tell the police what you did to Helen Cho's body."

Leonard's eyes glazed again as Luther dropped him.

"Come on," Luther grabbed Leonard by the back of his collar. Leonard was pliant as the two marched out the front entrance.

Klaus buried his face in his hands. "I’m sorry, guys," he sobbed as Diego rubbed his shoulder.

Vanya quickly approached the bench and sat down next to his other side. "Klaus, don’t," Vanya tearfully pulled one hand from his face and held onto it. "This isn’t your fault."

"She’s right, bro," Diego said softly.

"Children?"

Everyone turned to face Pogo and Grace from the side entrance.

"Uh, hey, Mom?" Five limped over to them. "I need your help." He lifted his shirt to her.

"Oh, dear, Number Five." Grace held out her stitched arm. He grabbed her hand and she guided him out of the room.

Pogo approached Vanya, who remained on the bench with Klaus and Diego. "So, you know."

Vanya nodded. "It’s okay, Pogo. I understand."

"We also know the truth about Dad’s death," Diego added. "We know everything."

Pogo sighed. "I’m sorry, Children."

"We all understand," Allison assured him.

"And if you’re willing," Vanya let go of Klaus' hand and held Pogo's, "I want to be trained properly and learn how I can control my power."

"Me, too," Klaus looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. "I’ve scratched the surface and know what I’m truly capable of doing."


	6. Chapter 6

Within a few minutes, Vanya was with Pogo and Allison out in the courtyard to begin her first round of training.

Even though she was still recovering from the effects of both her memory loss and the time-travel back, Vanya had figured that she should waste no time, knowing that the police might question her about her relationship with Leonard Peabody. He had, of course, been included in the list of complimentary tickets for her concert, in which she quickly resolved that she would not participate, anyway, based on this revelation. Along with being concerned that the police might suspect she had a part in it, she would feel morally wrong in doing so even if that were not the case.

Meanwhile, Klaus had told Pogo he would start his training the next day, since he was too sick from the withdrawals but was truly done with drugs. Diego backed Klaus up and said that he would watch over Klaus; plus, Diego had yet to fully reconcile with Vanya himself, having beforehand been the meanest to her, and he felt that his presence might hinder her training until they could talk. Five, of course, was recovering from his injury.

"So, Miss Vanya," Pogo stood before the two sisters, "before we begin, I must inquire how much you know about your powers, as well as any recollection you might have about your early childhood."

Vanya sighed and uneasily exchanged glances with Allison. "I know that a single sound resonating in my head and my emotions trigger this power. I know it could be a good or bad thing, depending on what I hear and how I feel." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I---I remember being…four, I think? I was in the kitchen, and the nanny kept trying to get me to eat oatmeal. I hated it. She sang some annoying song while waving the spoon in front of my mouth. I was getting angrier and angrier. The tea kettle whistled, and the next thing I knew she flew through the air. Dad scolded me. Then it happened again with another nanny, and another."

"Yes, Miss Vanya," Pogo said sadly, as light rain began to fall. "You need not further detail those incidents. I realize how dreadfully painful it must be for you to recollect that occasion."

Vanya then continued, "Well, I do remember meeting Mom. Well, to me, she was Grace, another nanny. I remember that I couldn’t…." She trailed off as a tear rolled down her face. "I can’t believe I did that to someone I now call Mom, let alone the others."

Pogo nodded. "I understand, dear girl. But difficult as it may be for you to know today, you must remember that you were too young to comprehend the result of your actions from your powers. For you to move forward, you must learn to forgive yourself, dear Miss Vanya."

Vanya swallowed and wiped her eyes as Allison gave her shoulder a squeeze. Within a few seconds the raining ceased.

"I remember Dad testing me with the pitch fork," Vanya continued. "And how I became resistant. I broke every wine glass, and his monocle. He abruptly ended the testing. And then…."

"What is it, Miss Vanya?"

"Dad locked me up." She looked mournfully at Allison. "He had Mom give me pills, and then…." She trailed off again. Allison began to tear up, herself. Vanya kept her eye on her sister. "I know it wasn’t her fault. She was too young to know, too."

Pogo sighed. "Yes, my dear girls. Your father believed that this was the only way to protect you from yourself, as well as protect your siblings."

Vanya's heart sank as she recalled the last time that she had heard Pogo say those very words.

"Now I must ask you, Miss Vanya. How long have you known the truth, and when did you cease taking your medication?"

"The night the Academy got attacked, I spent the night at…." Vanya stopped again.

"May I?" Allison waited for Vanya to nod in approval before continuing. "She’d spent the night with Leonard, a guy she’d just met. The next day I found him wandering around Vanya's apartment; she’d left her keys at his place and he claimed he was using the restroom. But then he started making comments about Vanya's estrangement from the family. Later that night there was a bouquet of flowers in her bedroom. The next day, she looked and acted different."

Vanya sighed. "I couldn’t find my refill, and I’d taken the last of my medication when I’d first spent the night on Sunday. The next day he said maybe I didn’t need it. Then Tuesday I felt better than I ever had. They held auditions for First Chair that afternoon, and I played better than I ever had in my life. And I got the position. "

"So, your companion knew of your powers all along," Pogo concluded. "Any idea of how he would have made this discovery?"

"He had Dad's journal," Vanya told him.

"I see," Pogo said suspiciously. "Well, I think I have interrogated you enough for now, Miss Vanya. Shall we proceed with your training?"

"Sure."

"Miss Allison, if you will, please share aloud a fond memory you have of Miss Vanya." Pogo then pointed his cane in the direction of the shed. "Meanwhile, Miss Vanya, focus your attention on the bicycle in front of the shed."

As Vanya stared at the bicycle, Allison began: "Remember Klaus' accident when we were twelve? When he busted his jaw and it was wired shut for nearly two months? He couldn’t train with us, so you sat with him and read aloud the stories he used to love when we were much littler? He told me later how much he appreciated that you never made fun of him for wanting to hear children's stories. That was the best part of his childhood, when Mom would read to him when we were little. That, and you helped Mom come up with delicious and nourishing liquid foods for him. That was when you started calling Mom, Mom…instead of Grace. You built a bond with her, as well as with Klaus. You seemed really happy then."

The familiar resonating sound filled the air, and the bicycle slowly wheeled itself toward Vanya. She stopped it within a few centimeters of her. 

"Pogo," Vanya said. "This worked because Allison said nice things to me. But what about people who don’t, but aren’t dangerous people? The previous First Chair was never nice to me."

"Vanya."

Luther entered the courtyard.

"The police need a statement from you," he told her. "I’m going to drive you there."

Vanya's stomach filled with dread. "Do they think I had anything to do with it?"

Luther shook his head. "I just got back home when they called just now. They said you’re not considered an accomplice." He held up the journal in his hand. "He agreed to tell them that you just discovered it this morning and he'd confessed everything then, because of his vendetta against us." He handed Pogo the journal and took Vanya's hand. "It’s all going to be okay, Vanya."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Here’s the water, Klaus."

Diego handed it to Klaus, who was lying on his back on his bed.

"Thanks, D." Klaus took it as Diego sat back down next to him.

"Are you feeling any better?" Diego placed his hand on Klaus' sweaty forehead.

"My skin is on fire," Klaus mumbled.

"Hello, boys."

Pogo stood in the doorway, cane in one hand and journal in the other.

"Hi, Pogo," Klaus said nervously as he sat up and took a sip of water. He then placed it on his desk.

"How's Vanya's training going?" Diego stood up and moved over to the center edge of the bed.

"Master Luther has taken her to the police station to provide her statement to the officers." Pogo slowly walked to the vacated chair and sat down. He eyed Klaus suspiciously as he held up the journal. "Would you happen to know how Miss Vanya's so-called companion might have gained access to this particular item?"

Klaus dropped his gaze. "It was my fault. I tossed it in the dumpster so I could pawn the box for drug money."

"After I had specifically inquired to you regarding that box?"

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, hold on there, Pogo," Diego interjected. "There was a  _ lot _ that you kept from us yourself, all right? Klaus has been through a lot in just a few days. And he’s finally serious about getting clean. He actually  _ has _ been clean for longer than it might look right now. Can we call it even?"

Klaus looked at Pogo through watery eyes. "I truly am sorry, Pogo."

Pogo looked at Klaus for another moment, and then smiled warmly. "Of course, Master Klaus." Then he frowned. "I have noticed yesterday that you did not seem yourself. I suspected it when you saw me repairing Grace's wiring yesterday and did not inquire about what might have happened. Are you all right, dear boy?"

Klaus suddenly burst out crying and covered his face with his hands. Diego quickly jumped next to Klaus and against the wall on the bed and pulled Klaus in an embrace, while Pogo placed the journal on the desk and took Klaus' hand.

"Klaus was kidnapped by the goons who attacked the Academy," Diego explained. "When he escaped from them he took their briefcase, which turned out to be a time-traveling device. He spent ten months in the past with the person who became his first true love. But he died horribly so Klaus came back. He’s been trying to conjure him ever since. That’s why he got clean in the first place."

"Oh, dear," Pogo said sadly. "I’m very sorry, Master Klaus. It might take a little more time, but do not give up hope." Then he smiled again. "But I am very grateful for you to have found sobriety."

Klaus wiped his eyes. "I did conjure Dad, though. That was how I found out that he killed himself. I know about Mom's wiring being altered before he did the deed."

"Indeed," Pogo admitted. "Boys, it pained me greatly to keep these secrets---"

"It’s okay," Klaus weakly smiled himself. "We’re even, remember?"

"Of course, Master Klaus," Pogo assured him. "And I am proud of you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note: I may soon be going away for at least a month where I will not have Internet access (not jail! LOL). I wanted to complete this fic before that happens; but I also don’t want to rush through it based on where I have taken this story. If that is the case, it will allow me more time for ideas on the plot here.
> 
> Again, I so much appreciate all of the comments! This place is awesome! 💖


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’m still here and not going anywhere. So, here is the next chapter to this fic.

Ben silently sat in the corner as he watched the dialogue among Klaus, Diego and Pogo.

Pogo, whom Ben had very briefly seen in the afterlife before Pogo's return to what was now the  _ third _ version of Wednesday. Thank the Universe (Ben refused to thank God, who might be all-knowing, but apparently  _ not _ all-loving; Ben could understand God showing malice toward humans whose lives were devoted to causing evil, not just known historical figures…but  _ Klaus? _ ) that since he was included in the time-travel thanks to Klaus, he did not have to wait until the end of the week to participate in this new set of events. Klaus was indeed more powerful than anyone might know. Of course, as Pogo had said in the future,  _ all _ seven Academy members worked together.

Ben continued to observe the two brothers' conversation after Pogo had left the room to await Luther and Vanya's return. His heart continued to sink as Klaus reminded Diego that his initial sole purpose for getting sober was to conjure Dave before the end of the world.

Since the resetting of the timeline once again, Ben had been unable to locate Dave again in the afterlife. Of course, the afterlife itself not only had an infinite amount of universal space, but it contained every living being throughout Earth's existence. There was a space separate from that of all human population for every wild animal, including the dinosaurs and all other prehistoric animals. Only pets and other domesticated, non-feral animals either lodged with their fellow humans or were cared for by other people if their human companions were still living on Earth. And, of course, this particular collective afterlife  _ only _ eternally housed those whose lives originated on Earth; who knew what form of eternity existed for any other forms of life beyond the boundaries of the portions of the universe only known to mankind?

Of course, Dave likely was barred from any communication with Klaus (as well as from Ben himself) up until the time the siblings left to jump forward. However, Ben also had no access to the Commission, so he had no way of checking the state of affairs there since Five's destruction of it. Supposedly, Five had eliminated the Handler, but had someone else been promoted, and were the Hargreeves still in danger of them accordingly? If that were the case, Dave would certainly be bound to secrecy of the truth behind his own murder. But then again, wouldn’t the Commission have been after the siblings in the post-apocalyptic world, especially with their increased knowledge of everything? Or was the Commission awaiting their return back as part of their master plan?

Ben's thoughts were interrupted as Pogo reentered the room. "There is an urgent call on hold for you, Master Diego. You may take it in your father’s study." 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Who is it?" Diego braced himself for any possible scenario. What if Vanya was suspected as an accomplice and arrested as well? Worse yet, what if her powers were unleashed and caused mass destruction at the police station?

"It is Detective Beaman, regarding Detective Patch."

_ Shit. _ With all of the recent (and future) events, Diego had forgotten about his own arrest, which should happen later that day. Usually his mind was much sharper (pardon the pun), but then again, he could have been affected by time travel; of course, if he was as smart as he’d claimed to be, he wouldn’t have taken off his gloves inside the motel room when he had discovered her in the first place. 

Diego looked at Klaus, whose eyes widened with horror. "It’s gonna be okay," Diego patted his brother’s shoulders. "We’ve got time to figure this out."

Without another word, Diego walked to the study and picked up the phone at his father’s desk. "Beaman. What ya got?" He tried to sound as oblivious about the investigation as possible.

"Look, Diego," Beaman said, "I don’t have much time. I’m not even supposed to be talking to you. I’m calling from a payphone on my lunch break."

"Yeah, something about a lead on Patch's murder, right?"

"Diego, they’re looking at you for her murder."

"What?!" Diego feigned shock, hoping it worked. Any indication that he knew he was a suspect could convince them he did do it, and the siblings whole plans would go sideways as a result. Beaman wouldn’t even consider busting him out this time.

"Your prints were all over the crime scene. You two had a lot of heated arguments over the years. It doesn’t look good; that’s all I’m saying."

"This is crazy, Chuck."

"The only reason I’m telling you this is because I know you two used to be close. Personally, I think you’re a real pain in the ass, but I also know you’d never do anything like that. Just do me a favor and stay out of sight, until I have more to go on."

Diego sighed, knowing that despite his eventual clearance of charges, he still had at least a couple of days where he’d needed to lay low; additionally, how would the turn of events with Peabody impact the expediency of that happening this time around? Or worse yet, the chances of them initially coming after Diego sooner than nightfall? "Thanks, Chuck," he finally replied before hanging up.

Diego returned to the bedroom, where now Allison was hanging out.

"I just came up here to check on you guys," Allison said, worriedly. "That call was regarding you arrest?"

Diego nodded. "Yeah. As far as I know, I have a few hours before they come find me, like before."

"Master Diego!" Pogo exclaimed. "What arrest?"

"They think I killed a cop. I didn’t. Cha-Cha did."

"Who?" Pogo inquired.

"One of the intruders who attacked the house," Diego replied. "I don’t have time to explain. I need to hide out. At least until after they search the place."

"But we  _ all _ have to stick together!" Allison reminded him.

"Children!"

Diego, Klaus and Allison all faced Pogo.

"The isolation chamber where Vanya was kept would be your best option for remaining here at the Academy if police search the Academy," Pogo said. "The secret entrance to the elevator which would transport you there is impossible to locate by anyone without knowledge of the chamber itself."

"You’re right," Diego agreed. "I’ll do it."

Pogo's eyes narrowed at Diego. "And how would you know that, Master Diego?"

"I’m going with you!" Klaus interjected before Diego could respond to Pogo.

"No, you are not!" Diego argued. "You need to stay here and take care of yourself!"

"No!" Klaus argued. "Remember that I know what it’s like to be confined for a long time. Plus, my fingerprints were on the air vent screen in that motel room. They could think I was an accomplice. The cops all know me as well, you know, and that I was the only sibling you ever talked to after we all left the Academy, until the old man killed himself."

"Klaus is right," Allison said. "Then there’s Five to consider. If cops see him lying in his room unconscious, they’re going to ask questions about his injury."

_ A kid with a shrapnel wound might raise questions, _ Five had mumbled barely consciously in the previous timeline.

Allison left to check on Five and returned moments later. "He’s still unconscious."

"I don’t get it," Diego said. "Last time he went much longer before passing out."

"Five said there are a lot of symptoms of time-travel," Klaus said.

"But he time-traveled when he first came back to this day," Diego pointed out.

"He had a briefcase then," Allison reminded him. "Maybe traveling with all of us weakened him."

"Children!" Pogo interrupted. "I obviously haven’t any idea about what all of you are conferring, but if you are expecting to indeed get arrested for a crime that you did not commit, the chamber is your best option for you, Master Diego, as well as Master Five, for the reason Miss Allison stated. Grace will need to stay as well, since nobody in the public knows about her."

"And me, too!" Klaus reiterated. "You know they’re going to ask me a shit ton of questions---"

"Master Klaus!" Pogo scolded him for his language.

"Uh, sorry, Pogo."

"He’s right, though," Diego said. "The cops are going to grill him. Klaus, you should stay with us."

Klaus grabbed his blanket, and he and Allison carried several throw pillows while Diego retrieved Five and their mom. After Diego deposited Five on the row of pillows, he went back to get a chair for his mother. Within a few minutes the four were settled in.

"I’m going upstairs to wait for Luther to return so I can tell them what’s going on, and wait for the police," Allison said. "I’ll try to get down here often and let you know what’s happening." She closed the chamber door and walked through the long hallway. After she emerged from the elevator and through the secret door, she saw Pogo standing there.

"Now, Miss Allison, would you care to tell me what has happened to all of you?"

Allison took a deep breath before telling Pogo  _ everything _ that took place over…well, however many days it was now.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"This room does indeed look much different from the times we’ve used this before," Grace observed the walls.

"You knew about this room, too?" Diego looked aghast at his mother. 

"Yes, Diego dear," Grace took his hand in hers. "I cannot describe how difficult it was for me to lie to you children. I am very, very sorry, and I hope that you can eventually forgive me."

Diego stared at the stitching on his mother’s wrist. After what he had done to her, she was asking for  _ his _ forgiveness? "Mom, you don’t need to apologize to me for  _ anything. _ I need to be the one to say…" he squeezed her hand, "to say I’m sorry." Tears welled up in his eyes.

"D?" Klaus was sitting on Diego's other side.

Grace placed her hand on Diego's cheek. "Now, now, dear. There’s no need to be hard on yourself about that."

Diego grabbed her hand again. "No need? There’s  _ every _ n-n-need to ap-p-p-pologize to you!"

"Remember, Diego. Picture the word in your mind," Grace smiled at him.

" _ What _ are you two talking about?" Klaus demanded.

Diego sighed, and looked at his brother straight in the eye. "Hazel and Cha-Cha didn’t shut Mom down. I did."

Klaus' eyes widened. "What?!  _ Why??? _ "

"Because I didn’t know that sick bastard had altered her programming. All I knew was, after they attacked the house I found her running her cross-stitching through her arm, and she didn’t even know we were attacked." Diego sighed again and turned back to his mother. "I was afraid that if Luther found you like that, he would have done it himself and not show any mercy. But I…." Diego's voice trailed off as he burst out sobbing. "I’m sorry, Mom." He grabbed her hand and buried his face in her lap. "I’m so sorry."

While Klaus rubbed circles into Diego's back, Grace place her hands on Diego's cheeks and lifted his head to face her.

"Diego, dear," Mom said soothingly. "I know that. And even with my altered programming I knew then. I didn’t realize that your father had adjusted me in the first until Pogo restored me. Your father swore us to secrecy, and I knew that if I breached that trust he could have shut me down for good."

Diego nodded through his tears. And if Sir Reginald ever would have done so, Diego would be in prison for the same crime that had put Leonard Peabody in prison at age thirteen.

"I should have done better at protecting you!" Diego cried. "I haven’t been able to protect anyone. My friend got killed by one of the intruders after they kidnapped Klaus; I let her down, too."

"Oh, Diego," Mom caressed his cheek. "Please stop blaming yourself. Remember, your father had altered my programming. And it was someone else who killed your friend. But I realize that you are being targeted for her murder, hence why we are down here. But if you can forgive me for lying to you, you must forgive yourself, too."

"She’s right, D." Klaus said gently. "I mean, look at the monster Sir Reggie was. Look what we’ve all found out about each other." 

"Yes," Grace agreed. "He was not a good man. But I’m glad you all know the truth. And Diego, I was actually planning to pull you aside when I could, to tell you the truth myself, since Mr. Hargreeves is no longer here."

Diego wiped his eyes. "I love you, Mom."

"And I love you, too, Diego. I love all you children."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Allison had just gotten to the part where they all had jumped forward into the future when Luther and Vanya entered the foyer.

"Hang on, Pogo," she said as she turned to her two siblings. "How’d it go?"

Vanya sighed. "It went okay. I just kept remembering what Allison said during training, and it helped with my emotions so I don’t think my powers emitted at all."

"Okay. We may have a situation here." Allison told them about the phone call and the plan. "And, I’m explaining to Pogo everything that happened last time."

Vanya looked at Pogo, her eyes brimming with tears. "Does…does he know?"

Pogo slowly walked up to Vanya. "Yes, Miss Vanya."

"I-I-I’m still trying to grasp everything that I did," Vanya's voice quivered. "How many people I hurt… _ and _ that I ended the world." 

"Vanya, because Leonard was feeding you all lies," Allison gently reminded her.

"The person who killed me before was not you," Pogo assured her. "The person standing before me now  _ is _ you, with a power you are willingly learning to control." Pogo held out his arms.

Vanya ran into them, crying. After a few minutes Allison continued her explanation to Pogo. Vanya excused herself, even though all of her bad actions had already been discussed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was 7:30 p.m. when banging was heard on the front doors. Luther opened them to Detective Beaman with an army of police officers. He granted them permission to search the house. After half an hour they left empty-handed. 

Luther went down to the chamber to release its temporary inhabitants. He carried Five so that Diego could help Klaus, who seemed to be going through the worst of his withdrawals. He guided Klaus through the long hallway into the elevator, and then up the stairs to Klaus' room.

"You want me to stay with you?" Diego asked Klaus after he had laid Klaus down.

Klaus shook his head. "No. These withdrawals are a bitch and I don’t want to keep you up all night, too."

Diego hesitated. "Try to get some sleep, okay? Come get me if you need me."

Diego turned off the lights and kept Klaus' room door slightly ajar, having realized why Klaus had so many nightmares growing up. The more he learned about what Sir Reginald had done to Klaus, Vanya, Mom, etc., the more he hated that beast.

Diego watched Klaus through the crack in the doorway for another few seconds until he heard footsteps. He turned to face Vanya.

"Hi," she said nervously. "How is he? And how is Five?"

Diego motioned Vanya to his bedroom. He closed the door and sat on the bed while Vanya pulled the desk chair and sat across him.

"Klaus is pretty sick, but he should be better by the morning. Five's resting and Mom thinks he should be back to his charming self by then, too."

"Okay. I-I won’t bother you any longer." Vanya started to get up.

"Wait."

Vanya cautiously sat back down.

Diego sighed. "We need to talk."

Vanya looked down at the floor. "I know I did a lot of horrible things---"

"No, I’m not talking about this week." Diego took a deep breath before continuing, "Well, except for maybe the way I treated you."

Vanya nodded, keeping her gaze dropped. "The book."

"Vanya," he said gently, "why  _ did _ you write that book?"

Vanya sighed. "It was a really impulsive decision. I had just found out that Helen had been promoted to First Chair, and I passed a pawn shop with a typewriter in the window, next to an Umbrella Academy comic. And I just went in, got the typewriter, and well."

Diego nodded.

"I know there were a lot of things I shouldn’t have included," Vanya admitted. "I just was so hurt being left out of everything. Dad and I were watching your charter mission at the bank from a distance, and he said I couldn’t 'go play with the others' because there was nothing special about me."

"Jesus," Diego muttered.

"That’s what I constantly heard from him. That I was ordinary. While you guys all got the fame and attention. I just never knew about the torture, especially what he put Klaus through. I shouldn’t have written it."

Diego looked at Vanya as she blinked back tears. He still felt a twinge of anger even thinking about what he had read. But now, since all of the reveals about Sir Reginald Hargreeves, things were so much different. The siblings barely saved themselves, and the date of the apocalypse was still two days out and he realized that even with Vanya getting a handle on her powers, they might not have averted it. As everyone had said all day, the Umbrella Academy had to be completely united in order to successfully combat anything. If he had enough guts to step back and  _ let _ Luther lead, he could forgive Vanya for her book.

"We will work through this, Vanya." Diego assured her. "Right now, we need to help both you and Klaus with your powers. And," he sighed, "I do need to apologize for not checking to see if you were okay after the Academy got attacked; instead I called you a liability."

Vanya nodded. "It’s definitely okay." Then she grinned. "You were obviously wrong, though."

Diego chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Vanya then frowned. "That was the first time I went to Leonard's."

"Shit," Diego muttered, figuring it was inappropriate to ask Vanya whether they had done the deed.

Vanya answered his unasked query. "We didn’t sleep together that night, but then Tuesday night was…" she sighed, "our first time."

"Jesus, Vanya," Diego said mournfully. 

Tears spilled down Vanya's face. "I really did love him. And all he did was manipulate me."

"Hey," Diego motioned to Vanya.

She quickly got up from her seat, sat down on the bed next to Diego and sobbed on his shoulder.

"I’m sorry for what that asshole did to you, Vanya."


	8. Chapter 8

On Thursday morning the news broke out that convicted murderer Harold Jenkins had killed Helen Cho, with no other motive than to win the graces of Vanya Hargreeves in hopes that she would publicly say more bad things about the Umbrella Academy, the true source of his anger. Vanya, in turn, announced that she had reconciled with her siblings after Sir Reginald Hargreeves' death and was retracting everything negative that she had said about them in her memoir. She publicly admitted that she had allowed bitterness due to misinformation on her part to nearly destroy her own spirit, but now she and her siblings were ready to make a fresh start and truly become a family.

After Vanya made her public statement from her front porch to the massive amount of press, she closed the door and retreated to her room. Diego then emerged from his room joined Luther and Allison in the living room.

"Where are Klaus and Vanya?" Five demaded, limping down the stairs and into the living room. "They’re supposed to be training!"

"They each need some time to rest," Allison explained. "Diego was up late with Vanya, and she just had to deal with the press."

"And Klaus was up sick most of the night," Diego added. "He finally fell asleep a couple of hours ago. We can do it this afternoon."

"No!" Five yelled. "We don’t have time! I know that the Commission is still after us and we need Klaus and Vanya's powers to work effectively in fighting these bastards."

"What?" Luther exclaimed. "I thought you said you killed the Handler and destroyed the Commission."

"No, I didn’t succeed in either," Five said. "You know how I had disappeared at the bowling alley? The Handler had sent me a message. She was at a Bed and Breakfast in Jackpine Cove and she’d kidnapped the waitress from Griddy's. But that was in  _ that _ timeline. Who knows where the hell she may be…or Hazel and Cha-Cha, for that matter!"

"Jesus, Five!" Luther snapped. "So this isn’t over?"

"No. So we need Klaus and Vanya  _ now. _ "

"Let’s wait an hour, okay?" Allison suggested. "Give at least Vanya time to settle from dealing with the press.

So the four siblings sat around and talked about how they would train that day. Five would help Allison with Vanya, while Pogo would begin Klaus' training with Diego's help. Luther would oversee both.

As the hour progressed, Five became more and more antsy. "Start without me. I have a plan." Before anyone could respond, Five zapped away.

"Oh, for the love of…Now what?" Luther yelled. Then he looked at Diego. "Look, if Five isn’t gonna be here for training, then you need to help Allison with Vanya, and I’ll help Pogo with Klaus."

Diego shook his head. "No way, man. We don’t know what Klaus' training will be like for him, so I need to stick by him."

"I can’t leave Allison alone," Luther objected. "And after what I did to Vanya, I don’t think I should be around her during training."

"Luther, I think it would be good for you two," Allison said. "Remember, Vanya is still dealing with a lot of guilt from her own actions. I think she will find it easier to forgive herself if you two can make amends." 

Luther looked at Allison. "You’re right. Well, I’ll get Pogo, and you and Diego can wake up the others. I’ll see you in the courtyard."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Five appeared in the parking lot outside Rain Quail Bed and Breakfast. He did not see a powder blue Volvo in the lot; instead, he discovered several cop cars and police tape around the door of one of the rooms.

Five limped up to a bystander. "What happened here?"

The man looked at Five. "Shouldn’t you be in school?"

"Shouldn’t you be at  _ work? _ " Five snapped back.

The man stared at Five for a second longer before facing the inn. "Some lady got shot in the head. That kind of shit  _ never _ happens here."

_ Shit, _ Five thought, figuring that the Handler had killed the waitress. Although a simple gunshot to the head was hardly a Commission tactic as it was quick rather than tortuous. But Five also wondered...whatever had become of Hazel and Cha-Cha?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"This is what I would like you to do today, Miss Vanya," Pogo addressed her among the other siblings in the courtyard. "Part of your training entails learning how not to react adversely to negative statements." He then looked at Luther and Allison. "So, as difficult as this may be to do, while one of you is recollecting to Miss Vanya the fonder memories of your lives, I want the other to discuss negative ones. Miss Vanya, you will need to eventually learn to appropriately deal with such arguments and use your powers only whenever necessary." He then looked at Klaus. "Master Klaus, your brother and I will take you to the cemetery. You will  _ not _ go inside the mausoleum, but we will attempt to have you manifest spirits regardless."

As Pogo left with Klaus and Diego, Vanya faced her two siblings. "So, which one of you is willing to be the bad guy?"

"I’ll do it," Luther quickly offered. "You and Allison went through too much before."

So Luther and Allison stood before her.

"Vanya," Allison started. "Remember when we all sneaked out to Griddy's on our thirteenth birthday? And you challenged Five to a doughnut-eating contest and  _ won? _ And poor Five got so sick he threw up!" Allison then nodded to Luther.

"Uh," Luther stammered, "speaking of Five, remember the day he left? And how Dad simply told us to go back to eating as though nothing had happened? Remember how upsetting it was knowing we might never see him again?"

Rain began to fall.

"Vanya, remember when you got an A-plus on that biology exam you'd thought for sure you would fail?" Allison's eyes lightened up as the rain decreased. "You answered every question correctly! And Pogo said he was so proud of you for that!"

"I bet more than anything, you wanted Five to be there to be proud of you," Luther forced his sneering sharp tone. "He was your best friend, yet he wasn’t there to witness this." The rain fell harder.

"Vanya, how did you feel after Five returned?" Allison said cheerfully. "Even though it was the day of Dad’s funeral, it must have been the best day of your life."

Vanya smiled warmly at her sister as the rain stopped.

"How about when I locked you in that vault?" Luther internally cringed at bringing that up, but he rarely had any direct memories of himself with Vanya.

Vanya stared coldly at Luther.  _ Think of good times. Think of good times. _ That thought kept repeating itself in her head as Luther continued his disparaging remarks.

"I was afraid of you. I wanted to know what we were dealing with. But how dark was it in there, anyway?"

" _ Stop it! _ " Vanya shrieked as lightning flashed throughout the sky.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"What the fuck?!" Klaus exclaimed. He, Diego and Pogo had just arrived at the cemetery when the lightning had struck. "Someone pissed Vanya off."

Within a few seconds, however, the raining stopped  _ again. _ And it stayed that way.

"I hope this is a sign that Miss Vanya might be learning to control her powers," Pogo said. "Now, Master Klaus, I just want you to sit here. Master Diego will be right behind you. As gruesome as these figures might be, I need for you to not be afraid."

"Is it because I could manifest them if they scared me?" Klaus asked fearfully.

"Yes, Master Klaus. That is why you must try your best."

Diego clamped his hand on his brother’s shoulder. "It’ll be okay, man. I won’t let anything happen to you."

Klaus sat cross-legged on the ground. Diego stood a couple of feet behind him.

Sure enough, within a minute a mangled corpse appeared before Klaus. Then another. And another. And another.

"Sh-i-i-it," Klaus muttered. He took a deep breath.  _ Focus. Focus. Don’t be scared. They can’t get me. _

Then Klaus' hands started glowing.

"SHIT!!!" He screamed. "We’ve gotta get out of here!"

However, none of the ghosts turned blue.

Just Ben.

"Bentacles!" Klaus exclaimed.

"Yep, just me," Ben smiled.

"Hey there, bro," Diego said to Ben.

"So, it worked?" Klaus looked at Ben. "I only manifested you and not them?"

"Apparently," Ben smiled. "If you don’t show the bad guys fear, they'll leave you alone."

Diego and Ben talked for a few minutes until Klaus became too exhausted to keep it up. As Ben disappeared, Klaus slumped against Diego and smiled. "Hopefully soon I can get Dave," he murmured happily as he shut his eyes.

Diego gave his sleeping brother’s shoulder a squeeze. "I hope so, too, for your sake," he whispered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After Allison was done with her current turn with positive affirmations, Luther dreaded saying anything else. But this was part of the training.

"Remember when I accused all of you of killing Dad?" Luther sighed. Then he looked at Allison. "I can’t do this anymore. I hate that I’m being so hurtful."

"It’s okay, Luther," Vanya said. "This needs to be done."

"No!" Luther exclaimed. "I can’t because this  _ was _ all my fault in the first place. Vanya wouldn’t have snapped if I hadn’t done that to her!"

"No, Luther," Vanya objected. "There were a lot of things, namely my being manipulated by the only man I had ever loved."

"Just the same," Luther looked at her. "I never should have done it."

Vanya held out her arms. "Come here. But don’t choke me this time, okay?"

Luther walked up to her and hugged her. "I love you, Vanya. I’m sorry."

"I’m sorry, too." Vanya's voice started to break.


	9. Chapter 9

After each of their respective trainings, both Klaus and Vanya were worn out. Vanya had managed to drag herself up the stairs before passing out on her bed. Klaus, meanwhile, never awakened as Diego drove him and Pogo back home, and Diego carried Klaus bridal style to Klaus' own room. After depositing his brother onto his bed, Diego headed to Luther's room. The "top two" brothers confirmed with each other the success of each of their siblings' trainings, and Luther grumbled that Five had yet to return. Diego turned to leave when Luther called out, "Wait."

Diego stopped and made another about-face toward Luther again.

"Uh, you were right," Luther awkwardly said. "At the library. While we were searching for Five."

Diego thought back to that day, as well as their argument in Five's room as they had started the search. Diego now felt a twinge of guilt for the things he had said to Luther, especially the comments about nature shows turning him on. But then at the library: _ You stayed because you couldn’t let go of the way things used to be. The Academy. Dad. With Allison. _

"You’re right," Luther repeated. "I…I guess I don’t know anything other than my identity as Number One. I’ve had to do a lot of thinking since we’ve been back. I know Vanya's powers were what caused the apocalypse, but I was hasty and impulsive in my decision to lock her up. You, Klaus, Allison…all of you were right then, too." 

Diego stared at Luther. He would never have imagined that Luther would be swallowing his pride and admitting these things. As well as that Luther's virtual "subordinates" were just as validated for their complaints. 

"And in the apocalypse…" Luther continued, "you and Klaus were also correct in that I locked her up because she hurt Allison. And I pushed Allison further away in the process."

"Luther?"

Diego was startled hearing Allison's voice behind him.

"Sorry," she said nervously. "I just came up here to check on Vanya and Klaus."

Diego started to back away. "I’ll let you two talk. But, uh, Luther…" _ Shit, am I really about to apologize to him?! _ "Uh, what I said about nature shows…."

"Forget it," Luther said. Diego quickly walked out the door, leaving Luther alone with Allison. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So." Luther smiled awkwardly. "I guess you heard all of that."

Allison nodded and smiled mournfully at Luther.

"Luther," Allison sighed before resting her arm on his. "You know I love you, right?"

Luther nodded. "But…?"

Allison sighed. "You’re legally my brother. I know we weren’t raised like a family, but instead as children in a boarding school. And I’ve always loved you, since we were thirteen."

Luther felt tears well up in his eyes. "I never should have pushed you away…after you all saw what I look like. And…." Luther trailed off, not wanting to again repeat his regretful decision while high.

"I understand," Allison said quietly.

Luther wanted to belt out, _ I love you too. _ But her hesitancy prevented him from admitting these feelings. 

"Luther, if we do make it through this, then eventually I will need to go back to L.A. to work on my relationship with my daughter." Allison sighed. "And despite us not being physically related, the courts may not allow me any custody in the future."

Luther nodded, his heart sinking, although he knew Allison was right.

"Plus," Allison took a deep breath, "there’s something else that you need to know."

Luther felt a hint of dread, and then Allison admitted something about which he had always wondered. 

Allison looked at him with uncertainty. "I rumored you. When we were thirteen."

Luther thought that he should feel anger, disappointment, and perhaps even some grief. And he did, somewhat. However, he wasn’t expecting to feel some relief.

Tears welled up in Allison's eyes. "I’m sorry, Luther. I had such a crush on you. But I was thirteen and had no idea what love was."

Luther stood and stared blankly at her. He didn’t know how to respond until another thought crossed his mind. "Your ex-husband, Patrick."

Allison nodded sadly at Luther. "I did it to him, too."

Luther slowly nodded in return. Despite always having wondered, and by Allison's admission she had used her power on many others, he still felt a sense of betrayal. _ I can’t dwell on this, _ he thought to himself. Getting angry because someone had lied to him was the reason he got high and caused more trouble for himself. Despite the rave events getting wiped out of existence, he still did the deed to a woman who would not remember, in more ways than one.

"Please say something, Luther," Allison tearfully pleaded. 

Their conversation was interrupted by screaming down the hall: "_ Daaaave!!! No-no-no-no-no! MEDIIIIIC!!!" _

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego burst through the doorway of Klaus' bedroom and quickly sat on Klaus' bed. "Klaus!" Diego gently shook his shoulders.

Klaus quickly shot up in his bed. "Stay with me!" He screamed before opening his eyes and darting them around the room.

Diego quickly pulled his brother into a strong embrace. He held Klaus tightly as Klaus trembled and sobbed. "Shh, shh. It was just a nightmare, bro. You’re safe." Diego gently rocked him. Luther, Allison and Vanya quickly appeared in the doorway as well. "I’ve got this, guys," Diego assured them. Within a few seconds the three slowly turned away.

It took a couple of minutes for Klaus to calm down, somewhat. "Why can’t I conjure him?! I conjured Dad and that asshole Leonard. But I haven’t been able to conjure the man I love! Why not?!"

Klaus looked at Ben, standing behind Diego in ghost form. He broke away from Diego and glared at Ben. "Why can’t I see him, Ben?! _ You _ said that time that Dave _ knew _ I was better than that!"

"Oh, you mean the time that you found your stash that you’d hidden in here?" Ben exclaimed. Then Klaus' hands glowed. Ben, in blue form, quickly ran to the stuffed unicorn in the pile and opened it up. "Diego. Get rid of these," Ben tossed the baggie to Diego.

"Thanks, bro," Diego quickly said to Ben as he ran to the bathroom.

"Screw you, Ben!" Klaus screamed as he heard the toilet flush. As Diego came back in the room Klaus continued his rant. "You _ saw _ him, didn’t you?! You know why I can’t see him, then. So spit it out!"

Diego quickly left and returned a moment later with Vanya. "Hold on to her," Diego ordered, remembering how unlike Klaus' training earlier today which had worn him out, manifesting ghosts with Vanya's help had no effect on him. Vanya took one glowing hand into hers, while Diego took the other. Klaus' hands then returned to their normal color while Ben remained in view of the others as well.

Just then a loud noise was heard from downstairs. A time-traveling kind of sound. Well, that was convenient, Diego thought snarkily to himself, that Five had finally decided to show back up right when Klaus was having a meltdown. Diego watched Luther and Allison tear down the hallway toward the stairs. They could deal with Five right now; Diego couldn’t leave Klaus and Vanya.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Ben, who seemed to be in a combination of fear and uncertainty. 

"Spill it, Ben!" Klaus demanded.

Ben looked uneasily at Diego before facing Klaus, eyes full of concern. "Klaus, please promise me that you won’t do anything stupid."

"Shut up and tell me!"

"Promise me!" Ben repeated.

"You got rid of all my drugs. Of _ course _ I wouldn’t!"

"That hasn’t stopped you before," Ben pointed out, while Diego had remembered the last time he had visited Klaus in rehab, two days before Klaus' discharge and their dad’s death. He could tell that Klaus was loaded. And the morning following Dad’s death Diego had gotten yet another phone call from the hospital about an overdose. He knew now to never turn his back on Klaus, but what would happen if Klaus got high again? Diego feared that if this was really bad, Klaus would no longer have an incentive to get clean again.

"Klaus," Vanya whispered. "If you can’t do it for yourself right now, please do it for me. Please. I can’t lose you."

"Guys!" Allison exclaimed from downstairs. "You all need to get down here!"

"Not right now, guys!" Diego wearily called back.

"It’s important!" Luther called out.

"Look, this is shitty timing, but Five may have learned something," Diego sighed, letting go of Klaus' hand as Ben disappeared. "Let’s go down there, and then we’ll get Ben back. But we’re gonna get through this, bro, whatever this is."

"We will," Vanya repeated, keeping her hand on Klaus.

Diego kept his hand on Klaus' shoulder as he guided Klaus down the stairs. They entered the foyer to find Luther and Allison standing with a somewhat-tattered Five, and a man dressed in uniform.

Klaus stopped dead in his tracks.

"_ Dave?! _"

Dave smiled brightly at Klaus. Klaus' hands weren’t glowing, nor was Vanya touching him. Diego had quickly dropped his own hand in shock at what was unfolding.

"You weren’t lying about being a time-traveler," Dave smiled.

"Is it really…you’re alive?"

Dave nodded, beaming.

Klaus rushed into Dave's arms and planted a huge kiss on him. Crying and laughing, he embraced his lover, holding him tightly, not letting him go.

Luther looked at Five. "So, where exactly have you been all afternoon?"

"Well, it’s been more than one afternoon for me," Five responded cheekily, "when I realized the huge mistake I made in---well, not the last timeline, but the one before that." 

"Come again?" While Diego meant that toward Five, he couldn’t get his eyes off Klaus and Dave.

"You all should sit down for this," Five said.


	10. Chapter 10

The other siblings (including Ben, courtesy of Four and Seven) sat in stunned silence with Dave as they listened to Five explain his most recent journey.

Five had gone to the B&B to check on the state of things. Upon arrival he learned that a woman was murdered in one of the rooms. Five had assumed it was Griddy's Doughnuts owner Agnes, but he obviously kept a low profile; not only because of his past connection to the crime, but because it was school hours and had the cops seen him he would have gotten nailed for truancy and messed this whole thing up. So he later zapped to the County Morgue. Diego and Vanya felt sick to their stomachs as Five described lifting the blanket to discover, to his delight, the Handler's body under the sheets.

Afterward, Five zapped back to the Academy to retrieve the briefcase from his last return to the Commission, in stealth mode while the other siblings were doing training. Armed with a handgun, Five opened the briefcase and returned to the Commission. Nearly all of the building had been destroyed. When Five announced that The Handler had been killed, the few remaining employees were relieved and sent notices to all field personnel to return as the Commission would be folding and the field agents were to turn in all accessories. This included Hazel, who hadn’t removed his tracking device in the timeline where he and Agnes had jumped to safety.

Of course, Hazel had assumed that he had killed Cha-Cha by ramming the car at the theater. Five had enlightened him of her brawl with Diego but hadn’t followed up to find out whether  _ he _ had killed her. "I was a bit distracted, of course; my brother had just been manifested by the one you kidnapped and we were trying to stop my sister from destroying the world," he had told Hazel. A bit of time going through files and surveillance footage revealed that the apocalypse had taken Cha-Cha out.

"Wait a second," Luther interrupted. "Shouldn’t they all still be alive if we reset the timeline to three days before the apocalypse?"

"Well, that’s the thing," Five said. "Hazel, Cha-Cha and the Handler had all been wearing their tracking devices. These devices override the laws of time travel. Therefore, anything a Commission employee does cannot be repeated by a resetting of the timeline without a tracking device. If someone gets killed, regular time-travel like I --- and we all --- did will make the person remain dead. And, as it turned out,  _ I  _ had unknowingly taken a tracking device when I escaped the Commission on…well,  _ my _ Wednesday, not yours. And because I had the device and used the briefcase  _ combined _ with my supernatural abilities, Hazel and Cha-Cha's own time was reset as well as yours. Aside from my sending Hazel and Cha-Cha separate messages from the Commission orders to kill each other, I did nothing to alter anything that Hazel and Cha-Cha did that day. It was how I was able to intercept the message about Jenkins in the first place. It was at the bowling alley that I realized I had the tracking device on me and destroyed it. That was how the Handler found me. However, our collective return this time on our second --- and actually, your  _ third _ \--- Wednesday, did  _ not _ make the other Commission employees reappear as they would have that day; but instead, wherever they were at the time we all traveled forward. So, Hazel and Agnes were safe since the two traveled together elsewhere with the Handler's briefcase and his tracking device, while The Handler's body suddenly appeared at the B-and-B. Meanwhile, Cha-Cha got taken by the apocalypse, and Wednesday her charred body was found next to a payphone here in the city. It’s been on the news, but…" Five looked at Vanya, "it got overshadowed by Harold Jenkins' arrest." 

The siblings all sat confused, except what appeared to be Klaus and Dave, who were undoubtedly happy to be reunited; plus, Dave obviously had some knowledge of all of this, having been collected in the process.

"Wait, what do you mean by our  _ third _ Wednesday?" Luther asked, perplexed.

"It turned out that I had unknowingly reset the timeline by twelve hours when I returned Wednesday morning," Five explained. "When I made my escape from the Handler I intentionally came back during the family meeting about the apocalypse." Five sighed as he looked around, guiltily at everyone. "As it turned out, I should have jumped into the evening rather than the morning."

The siblings sat in utter shock as Five explained that although Luther had been unable to rally the others to fight (which was what Five had feared in the first place and made it a point to drop in during the meeting accordingly), everyone turned out to have been in better circumstances in the initial timeline. Allison was able to console Luther regarding the moon mission, Grace was about to reveal a secret to Diego, and Vanya found the journal when she was in a better mindset.

"And me?" Klaus asked afterward.

Five sighed. "Well, you  _ did _ conjure Dave. But right as you started to do so was when I jumped back here."

Klaus looked at Dave. "Do  _ you _ remember any of this?"

Dave shook his head. "No. The last thing I remember is us being on the front lines, thinking I was dying; and then when I woke up, I was at this strange place with Five."

Klaus swung his head at Five. "What?! How…?" Then he looked at Ben. "Wait, you were going to tell me something important."

Ben breathed a sigh of relief. "Moot point now."

Five looked at Ben quizzically. "You knew this," Five realized. "You remember what happened that day. Your timeline didn’t reset. Because you were in the afterlife."

Klaus' eyes widened. "That’s right! I didn’t see you between the time I’d flushed those pills down the toilet until you convinced me to go find Luther that night!"

"Right," Ben admitted. "I was actually with you most of the first Wednesday, during the family meeting, and afterward. You had Diego tie you up to keep yourself from getting high, and that was when you told him about Dave. Afterward, I left to go find Dave for you." He ignored the blank stares on Dave's face as Dave was hearing himself described as a ghost, but yet here Dave stood, alive and well.

"So you know, too, what really happened to him." Five confirmed.

" _ What _ are you talking about?!" Klaus demanded as he shot up in his seat, letting go of Vanya and making Ben disappear to everyone but him. "Oops, sorry."

As Klaus sat back down Ben said, "Don’t worry about it. We’ll talk later." Then he vanished.

Five looked grimly at Klaus as he explained what Ben couldn’t. Dave had been killed by a Commission employee, not a Viet Cong.

"Shit!" Klaus grabbed Dave's hand.

"The Commission knew that someone else had used the briefcase when you escaped," Five continued. "Hazel and Cha-Cha had their tracking devices, after all. And they knew that based on the length you were there and voluntarily followed Dave to the front lines, you'd intended to spend the remainder of your life with him. Had you survived until our collective birth day, that would have created a timeline paradox. And they’d hoped that you would continue getting high once you returned."

"Shit," Klaus repeated quietly. Then he eyed Dave beamingly before continuing to Five, "So, you brought him back here? How?"

"Well, like I said, during my fight with the Handler at the Commission, I killed a lot of personnel. One of the people was the case manager who handled all apocalypse events. She and the Handler knew what I was up to. I had said at the time of my re-recruitment on the highway after  _ both _ of your antics," he eyed Klaus and Diego, "that I would only come back if she ensured my family’s safety. She knew I wasn’t fully committed to the Commission. So, right after the timeline was reset, in the afterlife she apparently warned Dave not to say anything to you. That must have been how Ben knew. And since this was before the Handler actually died, Dot had no way of knowing the fate of the Commission. I found out all of this after reviewing the case notes from Dot's successor; he knew she would try to warn Dave as well. So I simply took a briefcase back to that day in 1968, killed the agent who'd shot Dave, and then shot Dave with a tranquilizer that produced a synthetic type of blood, and brought him back to the Commission. I explained who you and all of us really were."

Klaus smiled at Dave. "And you still want to be with me?"

Dave smiled back warmly. "Never have been more sure of anything in my life."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Friday morning it was announced that due to the circumstances regarding Helen Cho, the night's concert was cancelled. Vanya knew she would not have felt right in playing, anyway. She also decided to withdraw from the orchestra indefinitely and focus on her employment at the conservatory and her private lessons, while learning more about whom she really was now.

And, as such, there was no apocalypse. 

Allison stayed through the weekend and left Sunday, eager to resume her counseling sessions and work on her relationship with her daughter.

After spending three days with Dave nonstop, Klaus decided to spend an evening with his family while Dave borrowed the car and drove around the City acclimating to his new surroundings. As it turned out, Dave had left nothing behind; as soon as he turned eighteen he had moved out of the house, as his father had never accepted Dave's sexuality. (It  _ was _ only the sixties, after all.) Klaus knew that Dave would be living in a time period where gay marriage was legal.

Klaus had never thought he would contemplate marriage. Or that he would be sober.

Klaus and his siblings watched a movie; when it was over Dave had yet to return, so Klaus went up to his room. He needed to have a talk with Benny.

"Okay, Ben!" Klaus called out as Ben appeared.

Ben stared uneasily at Klaus; Klaus figured that Ben knew what this was about.

"So, how long  _ did _ you know about Dave?" Klaus inquired.

Ben sighed. "I found out after Five reset the timeline that day. I didn’t know how to tell you. I was afraid…" Ben hesitated before continuing. "I was afraid you’d relapse, or worse. It was the first time you  _ willingly _ got sober. Do you know how hard it was for me to see you throwing your life away day after day for twelve years? And then…when you finally decided to get sober, I wanted to help you through it. But instead, you went to Diego. So yeah, I got jealous that he got to help you and I couldn’t. So, when the day started over, that was why I pushed you so hard to find Luther. I wanted you to have more purpose for getting sober besides conjuring up someone you might never see."

Klaus had not thought much about how incredibly selfish he had been to Ben and Diego over the years. Well, in the back of his mind, he did know; but he had wanted to remain in denial. "I’m sorry, man," he said sincerely to his ghost brother. "I know I can never make it up to each of you---"

Ben smiled warmly at the Séance. "You are by living the life that you are now."

Dave eventually returned with a small paper bag as Ben disappeared. Before Klaus could say anything further, Dave beamed at him. "So, Hazel and some of the Commission people gave me money, as a form of an apology. And I knew exactly how I wanted to spend it."

Klaus pulled out a black jewelry box and opened it, as Dave got down on one knee. Klaus began crying tears of joy as he observed Dave and the diamond engagement ring.

"Klaus Hargreeves, will you marry me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand, that’s a wrap! Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos!


End file.
